Seemingly sleepy farming town Brokenwood appears idyllic, but look closer and its murder rate is going through the barn roof.

The mystifying murder of a local farmer brings in the services of maverick Detective Inspector Mike Shepherd who arrives from the big smoke. With a reputation for solving the most difficult of crimes, his unconventional methods (and passion for country music) leave his by-the-book new colleague Detective Kristin Sims aghast.

But with inexplicable wine festival drownings and puzzling stag-do shootings to solve, and territorial fishermen and tree-huggers to contend with, this unlikely duo need to put their differences aside for the sake of the community.